Just Rain on my Parade OneShot
by Rose Zen
Summary: After the breakup, Serena and Darien have finally worked out all their differences and are ready to go out on their first date. But Mother Nature is unyeilding to the couple's happiness. Is it all over again? Or can things be salvaged?


The raindrops sliding down the window raced with the teardrops trickling down her cheeks. She wished he was there, that he could wipe the tears away. She wished that she could see him. But she wouldn't. The storm would keep her inside, away from him. She looked away from the window which held the sight of all Juuban, still leaning against it. Why tonight? Why this night, of all nights? It was as if it was planned perfectly, just to ruin her evening.

_Serena stepped out of the shower and began fixing her hair. _

**It rained. **

_She finished her hair and applied some make-up. _

**It poured. **

_She stepped out of the bathroom and slipped on a cocktail dress, some heels, and grabbed her purse. Just as she was headed towards the door…_

**It thundered.**

_Serena jumped and turned to look out the window._

**The entire world crashed down on her.**

She tried to salvage the evening as much as she could. She called him, but there was no answer. He was already waiting for her.

She began to cry.

After all the struggles to make it work, she watched it crumble before her and drown in the rain outside. He would think she backed out, that she regretted it, that it should've never happened. He'd think it was a _mistake_. She slid to the floor and buried her face in her knees. It was over before it had begun.

She looked at the clock. 7:25 PM, ten minutes past their meeting time.

He would leave soon, and this time he'd be gone for good. She knew this was her last chance and she'd miss it. He was tired of waiting on her, all this time. He was walking out of her life, and this time, it was real and there was nothing she could do. Nothing. After all, her love couldn't overcome her fear, could it?

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He sat patiently, watching the door, feeling like someone was watching him just as intently, as he waited for her to arrive. But he brushed off the feeling of being watched, and focused on his thoughts of her. He expected her to be late, but not this late. He glanced at his watch. 7:40 PM. Twenty-five minutes.

She wasn't coming. This was it. This was the _end_.

He glanced down at the roses he'd bought her and decided to take them. Why? He didn't know. He walked outside battling his inner turmoil to find that it was pouring and the sky was completely black. He signaled to the valet man as he continued to think things through.

So maybe she hadn't stood him up. He supposed he'd end up listening to her excuses, no matter how hard he tried not to.

And then it thundered.

Even he flinched. It had to be one of the loudest crashes he'd heard in his life. The earth shook.

And he remembered.

He turned and ran into the restaurant, dropping the roses in a puddle. His hands slammed down on the reservation desk as he came to a screeching halt.

"Excuse me, sir! May I help you?" the man behind the desk asked angrily.

Darien grabbed the phone without replying and dialed Serena's number. There was no answer.

She couldn't have gone out in this weather for him, could she?

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He slammed the phone down, ran back outside with a dollar bill in his hand and slipped it to the valet man as he took his keys. He sped down the road looking every which way for her or her car, but neither was in sight. He pulled up in front of her apartment building to find that it was dark, then looked at the surrounding buildings to find them dark as well.

"Damn!" he said to himself as he approached the doorman. "You don't happen to know a Ms. Serena Tsukino, who lives in this building, do you?" he asked the elderly looking man.

"Why, yes sir, I do! And you must be that Darien youngster she's always telling me about. Strangely enough though, I haven't seen her at all today."

"Thanks. That's all I needed to know." Darien said as he walked past him.

'_So she must be in her apartment. The call didn't go through because the power was out,_' he thought. '_But…then I would've gotten a disconnected tone, not her answering machine_.'

He looked at the time. He'd called about ten minutes ago, at 7:45.

He stepped into the lobby to find it was pitch black. He couldn't even see his own hand in front of his face.

"Hello? Is anyone in here?" he called out.

"I am! I'm the receptionist. Obviously, there isn't much I can do, but can I help you with anything?" a female voice replied.

"Yeah, I've got two questions. How long ago did the power go out?"

"Oh, just about three to five minutes ago. Hopefully it'll be back soon!"

So the power was still on when he'd called. She'd left while the lights were still working.

"My other question," Darien continued, "have you seen Ms. Tsukino today?"

"Serena? Oh, yeah, just before the power went out! She was headin' to the underground garage. Said she had a date to get to. Must've been some hunk for her to go out in this weather!"

"Wait a sec. What do you mean by 'just before the power went out'?"

"Literally, just before! She must've just been stepping into the garage when the lights went off."

"Ah, damnit! You don't happen to have a flashlight, do you?"

"If I did, I'd be using it," the receptionist replied sarcastically.

Darien turned to the door and ran down the entrance steps. He opened the trunk of his car and grabbed the flashlight out of his emergency kit. He ran back inside and shone the flashlight around the lobby.

"Which way is the garage?"

"Over there." The receptionist pointed to her left and realized he couldn't see her. "Uh, to your right!"

He shone the light in that direction until he stopped on a door.

"That's it," the receptionist said, "Go get her!"

He looked at her questioningly; there was something familiar about her. But of course, she couldn't see his face. "Thanks miss."

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He ran towards the door and down two flights of stairs before he reached another door, which opened into the garage. He heard sniffles and yelps as soon as he walked in, and when the door slammed behind him, a small scream in fright came.

A look of concern automatically came over Darien's face.

"Serena," he yelled, "Serena are you in here? It's me, Darien!"

"Darien?" he heard her cry in relief.

"Yes, I'm here Serena! Where are you?" He flashed the light wildly in the direction of her voice. "Serena? Come on, help me find you," he said soothingly.

"I'm here, Darien. I'm here." Suddenly, Serena felt a burst of positive energy and stood, wiping away her tears. "Follow my voice Darien. I'm right here. Concentrate on the sound of my voice. Just focus. You'll find me. I'm right here," she began reassuringly.

He closed his eyes and drowned out any and every other sound. All he could hear was her voice. He followed the calming sound closely.

"That's it Sere. Just keep talking."

"Open your eyes, Darien."

He looked up to find he was shining the light directly on her. He dropped it down and took a few steps forward. "Serena," he said in relief.

"Oh, Darien!" She ran into his arms and rested her head on his chest as her eyes filed with tears. He held her tightly and rubbed her back as he kissed her hair. He pulled her chin up softly so she'd look at him and wiped the tears off her cheeks

"Serena, once I realized it was thundering, I sped over here. I was so worried when you didn't answer your phone, and I came to find there was no power here."

"I'm so sorry Darien! I just wanted to make our date, and I still didn't. Please forgive me, please! Give me another chance…" she buried her face in his chest, and he squeezed her again.

"Hey, you didn't miss our date. Here we are!"

"I know, but…it's not the same."

"You're right." He brought her chin up again. "This is better." He held her closer to him. "Now I know how much I mean to you, Serena. You were willing to face your greatest fear to meet with me, and that means the world to me." He looked deeply into her eyes. "I love you, Serena."

Her eyes welled up again. "Oh, Darien. You mean it?"

He nodded. "I do. With all my heart, truly."

The tears spilled forth and slid down Serena's cheeks. "I love you, too, Darien."

He stared deeply into her eyes, penetrating her soul. He was mesmerized by her beauty, inside and out. Serena was the girl for him. He began to lean down towards her, and she closed her eyes and stood on her toes. Their lips met, and the kiss was soft, yet full of love. He took the initiative and deepened the lip-lock, placing one hand behind her neck and leaving the other at her waist. The earth shook beneath them, and they kissed for what seemed like hours, though it only lasted mere minutes. The pair finally broke apart, gasping for air, but still holding each other tightly. After they'd caught their breath, Darien spoke up.

"So, could you explain what happened and how you ended up here?" he asked, bringing her to sit on the ground beside him.

"Well, I guess it started raining while I was getting ready, but I didn't notice. Just as I was about to walk out the door, it thundered. I got really scared and looked out the window, then finally realized it was raining. I started crying because I thought I was going to miss our date. But once I thought I might lose you again, I was able to overcome my fear. So I was all determined to make it to the restaurant and came down here. As I was walking towards my car, it all went pitch black, and then I really lost it. As you can see, it's too dark to see or make out anything, so I didn't even bother trying to find my car. I just sat here, crying my eyes out, until you found me."

She scooted closer and snuggled into Darien's embrace. He held her close as he now told his story.

"Well, I sat at the restaurant waiting for you, but once you were 25 minutes late, I figured you'd stood me up. I was pretty steamed. Actually, pissed off, but when I stepped outside, it was pouring, and then it started thundering. I remembered how terrified you are of thunder. I called to see if you were alright, but there was no answer, so I really freaked out. I sped over here and came to find there was no power, even better. Then the receptionist told me you were probably stuck here, and I came to find you."

He gave her a squeeze and kissed her forehead.

"I'm sorry I ruined the nice date you had planned," she whispered.

He shook her a bit. "Hey, I said not to worry about it. This is better than what I had planned for tonight anyway."

"What were we going to do?"

"Have dinner, then maybe see a movie or take a walk."

"Okay, that is so much better than sitting on cold, hard pavement in a garage that's pitch black."

"Well, even though I've enjoyed it here, I don't think you have, so let's get outta here."

Darien stood and held his hand out to Serena to help her up as he smiled. He turned the flashlight up towards the door again and the couple made their way out of the garage. Just as they reached the lobby, they were engulfed in bright light. As their eyes adjusted to the returning power, they spotted the receptionist. Serena ran over to her.

"Molly! Are you alright?"

"Oh, yeah, Serena, I'm fine! Are you okay?"

"Molly…" Darien laughed. He knew he recognized that heavy New York accent.

"Oh, I'm okay Moll," replied Serena.

"Yeah, I figured you would be once Darien over there came to rescue you!" Molly said with a wink as she elbowed Serena.

"Shut up!"

Molly laughed. "And are you good Darien?"

"Just fine, Molly. Do you mind me asking why you're working here?"

"Me? Oh, I'm goin' to school, but I'm helpin' my parents pay for it. Weekdays I work the night shift but weekends, I'm here all day! And in case you were wonderin', I knew it was you all along."

Darien laughed. "You read my mind."

"Of course I knew it was you! Do you honestly think I flatter you when you're not around?"

"I'm not going to be offended by that."

The three of them laughed. After they settled down, Molly spoke up.

"Well, what are you two doin' still standin' here? Go on and get outta here, have some fun!"

Molly began to shoo the couple out the door. They were walking towards the car when the doorman stopped Darien. Darien signaled to Serena to wait for him by the car.

"Excuse me sir, Darien I believe? A man left these for you, said you dropped them as you were leaving the restaurant?"

Darien looked to see the man was holding the bouquet of roses he'd bought for Serena. He remembered he'd dropped them at the restaurant in his rush to the phone, but forgot them in his hurry to her apartment. But how did they get here?

"Did the man give you his name?" Darien asked.

"He said you would ask." The old man grinned. "His name was Andrew."

Darien smiled. '_So that's who I felt watching me,_' he thought to himself. Andrew had a date that night, too. He must've gone to the same restaurant, just to keep an eye on things. '_You never fail to amaze me, Drew._'

Darien took the flowers as the man offered them to him. "Thank you, sir."

"Oh, don't thank me. Thank that young fellow who brought them!"

Darien grinned. "Oh, I will, alright."

He walked down the steps to the car, where Serena was waiting. He handed her the flowers.

"I, uh, got these for you." A blush began to creep into his cheeks as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Serena smiled, stood on tip-toe, and kissed his cheek. "They're lovely. Thank you."

The two looked at each other awhile, until Darien broke the silence. He held his hand out to her.

"So shall we go?"

"We shall," she replied with a giggle, placing her hand in his.

Darien walked Serena to the passenger side, opened her door, and helped her in, then ran to the driver's side and took his seat behind the wheel.

And off went the pair, lovebirds anew, glad to have found a happy medium in their newly restored relationship. And not to be corny, but they did live _Happily Ever After_.

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Hope you guys like this OneShot. My Christmas gift to you all! Hope every single one of you had a Merry Christmas and got plenty of goodies. But we must not forget that Jesus is the true reason for the season.

And I'd like to dedicate this story to our troops in Iraq. Those guys are always in my prayers, and we can never thank them enough for what they're doing for our country. We miss you.

And on a happier note, I've got the new chapter of _Changes_ written, now I've just got to finish typing it!


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